Europe
‘Soviet-style’ trial of Crimean Tatar leader
The first hearing in Russia's case against Crimean Tatar leader Ilmi Umerov opened in Simferopol, in what Ukrainian rights advocates decry as a "Soviet-style" show trial.
Tag: autonomy
Iraq
Iraq: Kurdistan to vote on independence
Authorities in Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region announced that a referendum on independence will be held in September—drawing immediate harsh criticism from Baghdad.
The Andes
Colombia: Pacific coast strike ends in victory
After all-night negotiations with protest leaders in Colombia's Pacific port of Buenaventura, government representatives pledged to invest $517 million in local infrastructure.
North Africa
Women, Berber rights at issue in Libya constitution
Libya's Constitution Drafting Assembly is under harsh critcism from women's rights advocates, while Berber leaders have called for a boycott to press demands on language rights.
Syria
Syria: Trump approves plan to arm Rojava Kurds
The Rojava Kurds, caught in a pincer between Turkey and ISIS, are being forced to accept superpower aid—but with costs for Syrian revolutionary unity against ISIS and Assad.
Iraq
Syria: a No-Fly Zone for Rojava?
Following Turkish air-strikes on their forces in northern Syria, Kurdish leaders in the region issued a call for a "no-fly zone"—heightening the contradictions for Washington.
The Andes
Colombia: popular power defeats mega-mining
Mining multinational AngloGold Ashanti announced it will abandon its planned mega-project at La Colosa, Colombia, following a popular vote by local residents to reject the project.
The Amazon
Indigenous protesters clash with police in Brasilia
Thousands of indigenous protesters clashed with police outside the congress building in Brasilia, during a demonstration over territorial and land rights in the Brazilian Amazon.
Syria
Syria: Russia and Assad dropping Rojava Kurds?
Insistence on regional autonomy and a federal solution for Syria is straining the de facto alliance between the Rojava Kurds and Damascus, despite their mutual enmity for Turkey.
Europe
ETA still wants independent Basque Country
Separatist group ETA said in a communique that it will not abandon its goal of an independent Basque state on the French-Spanish borderlands despite surrendering its arms.
Syria
Hawks fear anarchist haven in Syria
The ultra-hawkish Henry Jackson Society warns that the US-backed Kurdish forces in Syria are allied with anarchists and elements of the Turkish and European armed left.
Southeast Asia
Control of oil, water at issue in Burma peace talks
As Burma's government tries to lure hold-out ethnic rebel armies to the negotiating table, Chinese-backed oil and hydro projects emerge as a last obstacle to peace.